Democrats pushing universal voter registration

'This is a choice that Americans have, and that's what makes America great'

Published: 02/01/2013 at 11:46 PM

(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Democrats who spent the 2012 election cycle on defense against voting restrictions are now urging near-universal voter registration.

Atlanta U.S. Rep. John Lewis and several colleagues are pushing a bill that would automatically register people to vote whose names are on existing records held by departments of motor vehicles, public assistance programs and other databases, unless people opt out of being registered. It also would require states to allow registration up to Election Day.

The bill faces significant Republican roadblocks to passage, including in Georgia, where Secretary of State Brian Kemp doesn’t like the idea. Kemp said it would have only exacerbated Fulton County’s difficulties in November’s election, which included long lines and an enormous pile of provisional ballots.